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rose_of_pain) wrote2015-12-27 10:21 pm
rose_of_pain) wrote2015-12-27 10:21 pm
Entry tags:
Zenkaikon 2015 Report
Friday:
Rode up with Forest early in the morning since I was unable to go to the con Thurs night like originally planned mainly due to work and such. The hotel parking lot was completely full by the time we got there though but the hotel staff directed us to another lot so Forest dropped me off and I headed up to my room. Roomed with Eric, Liz, their Mom, Lu, and last minute added my friend Sam. They had 2 connected rooms so Liz and Lu stayed with Momma Coble while I was with Eric and Sam in the other. Once settled in, I threw on Zelos quickly in order to join Alyce in Sheena. Went to pick up our badges, which were super cute this year! I was pretty excited in general for the con's theme being Victorian. Then went to find a spot for photos and ended up using the same wall we used a lot the previous year. The con was definitely more crowded than the previous year so made it harder to find good spots.
Sheena is not amused with Zelos' antics
I like this solo shot of me
After that we went outside to get food. The others had spotted a "taco and smoothie" place earlier and we all agreed we had to eat there just because of the odd combination. Sure enough it was exactly what it claimed to be. They sold tacos. And smoothies. XD Though I was the only one that didn't get a smoothie, just food. I just wasn't feeling the smoothie vibe since it was pretty cold out but they all sounded pretty amazing so might have to get one next time.
Wasn't feeling too well so got out of cosplay for a bit and then went to the Dealer's Room with Sam. Zenkai's Dealer's/AA is still pretty small but not bad. I got a Saint Seiya Camus figure from one booth, who claimed they remembered me as "that girl who buys all the SS figures from us"...but uh...pretty sure I've never bought from them before? ^^;; Yes I do tend to search for SS stuff but I rarely find it and I'm pretty picky about characters and I remember most of the dealers I've bought them from so pretty sure he confused me with someone else (though us SS fans are pretty few here in the US). I saw some cute FF7 art I wanted at one of the artist tables but the artist wasn't there at the time. Had a sign up saying she had to leave for a bit but would be back later. But of course I'd be in judging then. Oh well. lol Meanwhile Sam made friends with the people at the kimono booth and ended up getting hired by them due to her vast knowledge. XD
Changed into Ludwig with what I thought was enough time but because I was doing my own make-up, I misjudged how long that would take and ended up being the last judge to make it down to the judging room. But hey I was still there in time. XD Its just that Eric and Lex totally beat me there. I once again totally enjoyed being a judge. It was also really cool to see some of out entries from last year show up and see how they've improved in a year's time. Makes you super proud of them! Like seriously my favorite part of judging is seeing the younger cosplayers progress and all the great stuff they come up with. I also feel like there was slightly more entries on Friday this time than last year but I could be wrong there since I don't remember exactly how many we had before. But we did end up using up most of the time. I think we finished a little bit early.
Lex as Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke
Back in the Cosplay HQ room, which was the same fancy room as the year before, we saw Jenna doing a photoshoot with her photographer on the other side of the hotel so we mimed through the window that she should come over and have photos since it'd be a great location for her Peggy Carter costume. She didn't quite understand us at first but eventually Eric just went out and got her. XD
I stole this shot while they did their thing lol
Then took advantage of the room myself and had Lex take a few shots of me in Ludwig.
Changed out of cosplay and just hung out in the room the rest of the night since there wasn't much going on at this point. Ended up chatting pretty late with Sam which was fun. It was nice getting to know her better too. Didn't stay up too late though since had to get up early the next day.
Saturday:
Woke up to see that it was snowing outside...x_x Was pretty angry about that but it melted pretty early on at least. I got up as early as I did so I could get ready before Eric took over the bathroom to get his Marie Antionette make-up on and then get photos with Rose before judging. Since the theme of the con this year was Victorian, I figured it would be a good time to wear my Cain costume again since I had been planning to remake him for a while out of actual wool. Didn't quite finish the costume for the con but had enough done to wear at least and was pretty happy with how it looked. And Rose brought her Cre costume so we could get photos together. XD Though neither of us had a decent camera so we just used Rose' cell phone and Rae was nice enough to take photos. Though the only pose we could really think of was the two of us glaring at each other since Cain and Cre don't really get along and we lacked any other characters. lol
This one is my favorite, mostly due to how disgusted Cre looks here. XD
Then we got ready for Hall. Lex was also dappered up in Victorian ware. Eric was in the wrong era but we let him borrow Lex's top hat so he could join in...
...'cause clearly he needs more stuff on that wig XD
Us talking about Jack the Ripper and other historical figures led to us deciding we HAD to watch some Historic Rap battles on Laura's phone before it was time to start.
We had a pretty full and long judging session and man was I tired by the end of it. I also was massively hungry so every time Laura brought us ANY food, I stuffed my face with it. lol We had a regular supply of candy too so that helped. And amazingly enough we actually finished ON TIME! Like for the first time ever. lol Even had a little extra time to spare at the end. Though I guess the fact we all were there early this time around probably helped. So we had a good chunk of time to figure out the awards. Even had time to get some photo time in, as Lex and I agreed we needed a photo together in the fancy room...
'Cause we be fucking dapper. (I really do love this photo though)
Didn't have to rush to the Masquerade like the year before and even had some time to ourselves at the end so I totally went out to find Alyce and co., who were all pretty shocked to see me out and about so early. XD Brittany and Forest were JUST coming down in their Dark Souls costumes at that point too so I had pretty good timing. Got to see their costumes and they got taken down a hallway for a surprise shoot some guy wanted to do with them so the rest of us sat down and chatted for a bit. Which was super nice since I honestly didn't think I'd get much time to spend with them this con. Even Becky showed up, having come for just the one day, and she was pretty excited to see me in Cain. When I first met them all back in 2003, Becky had been cosplaying Cain so I knew she'd appreciate seeing me back in the costume.
We had thought about going outside for photos but it was REALLY windy and I forgot about the fact that while I was nice and comfortable in my layers, everyone else was...not. Especially Alyce and Beth in their Xena costumes. Oops. ^^;; So I took them all to our fancy cosplay HQ room for some photos but sadly none of the ones of me in Cain came out. T_T So I only have those cell phone ones of me and Rose. But maybe I'll be able to try again next year? Not sure if I'll be judging again though so not sure if I'll have access to the room but never know. Maybe they'll still let me. ^^;; Then after a little bit of chatting and wandering, they went to go change (Brittany and Forest had already done so since their costumes were pretty big) and I went to go take a little break in the room so I could take some layers off before it was time for the Masq. On the way up the elevator, one girl actually recognized me as Cain so that was pretty nifty. ^.^
Got back down and went to the cosplay room to see if anyone needed any help with anything since it was still early but no one was around. lol Guess I was too early. So just wandered until it was time. The Masquerade itself was once again short and sweet. During the half time, one girl got proposed to by her boyfriend which was super cute. It was all pre-arranged by the con staff and they had already prepared music and stuff for if she said yes...or if she said no, to keep everything happy. lmao Luckily the girl said yes otherwise that poor guy would have been pretty miserable I think. But it was cute how they did it. They called her up on stage, pretending she was selected for a random selected raffle of everyone's badge numbers and then he came out as her "prize". But anywho, then we did our awards and this time we didn't mess up. XD
Our Best in Show winner. I was pretty damn excited to see a Tokyo Babylon cosplayer in general. But omg she painted all of that and it looked so legit. She even made the freaking clock. *_* I was so in awe!
Afterwards I took a lot of the costume off but kept the dress shirt, pants, and vest on so I could still be dapper-ish. XD Finally met up with Stephanie, who I had been trying to find all weekend. Gave her a free doll I had gotten as a prize that she was interested in. Glad it finally found a home of someone who would appreciate it more than I. Only got to talk with her for a little bit though before she had to head off. Then got tacos from the staff room thanks to Dar and Laura, which was awesome cause I hadn't gotten a chance to actually eat dinner yet. Brought some back to the room for Sam, who wasn't feeling well and just stayed in bed the rest of the night. I felt bad she was missing a lot of con. I would have stayed too but I really wanted to see everyone else some more so she decided to rest while I went over to the other room and we went down to con to wander. Ended up in the table top game room, which I've never actually gone into at any con. Played some cute card game called Guillotine with Alyce, Beth, and Becky. It was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be and I agree with them that we should try out those games more often at cons now. Once we got tired of that, went back to the room and chatted with Sam for a bit again before passing out.
Sunday:
Decided to wear my Frozen vest I had recently made before con and wore it with my Ludwig shirt to be a little fancier. Helped Sam put her stuff in her car but god was it cold out there so had definitely wished I had put on something heavier by the time I got back to the con. Then we hung out in the lobby for a bit and found Stephanie and Aysha (who I hadn't seen all con!) so chatted with them for a while. They both appreciated my vest. XD Forest had left con early (like insanely early lol) so I put my stuff in Brittany's car instead since she said she didn't mind driving me home after she dropped everyone else off at Alyce's. Did a final round in the Dealer's with everyone. Bought the new MLP original TV series boxset, thanks to Laura texting me earlier to let me know it existed. XD I was pretty damn happy as I had no idea they had released that! Also managed to find the artist that wasn't at her booth on Friday and get the art I wanted. And got one of the Sailor Moon chibis, asked the dealer if I could check the box first since I had heard from Becky that they had been letting people do that. They were kinda "ehhh" about it since they were getting down to the last ones and I guess were realizing this method was kinda backfiring on them but the one he opened for me ended up being Jupiter anyways so it worked out (since he said he'd only open one to try). XD Then hoped in the car with Beth, Alyce, and Brittany and stopped at Alyce's, said yellow to their kitties real quick before Brittany and I got back on the road.
~Lyn
Rode up with Forest early in the morning since I was unable to go to the con Thurs night like originally planned mainly due to work and such. The hotel parking lot was completely full by the time we got there though but the hotel staff directed us to another lot so Forest dropped me off and I headed up to my room. Roomed with Eric, Liz, their Mom, Lu, and last minute added my friend Sam. They had 2 connected rooms so Liz and Lu stayed with Momma Coble while I was with Eric and Sam in the other. Once settled in, I threw on Zelos quickly in order to join Alyce in Sheena. Went to pick up our badges, which were super cute this year! I was pretty excited in general for the con's theme being Victorian. Then went to find a spot for photos and ended up using the same wall we used a lot the previous year. The con was definitely more crowded than the previous year so made it harder to find good spots.
Sheena is not amused with Zelos' antics
I like this solo shot of me
After that we went outside to get food. The others had spotted a "taco and smoothie" place earlier and we all agreed we had to eat there just because of the odd combination. Sure enough it was exactly what it claimed to be. They sold tacos. And smoothies. XD Though I was the only one that didn't get a smoothie, just food. I just wasn't feeling the smoothie vibe since it was pretty cold out but they all sounded pretty amazing so might have to get one next time.
Wasn't feeling too well so got out of cosplay for a bit and then went to the Dealer's Room with Sam. Zenkai's Dealer's/AA is still pretty small but not bad. I got a Saint Seiya Camus figure from one booth, who claimed they remembered me as "that girl who buys all the SS figures from us"...but uh...pretty sure I've never bought from them before? ^^;; Yes I do tend to search for SS stuff but I rarely find it and I'm pretty picky about characters and I remember most of the dealers I've bought them from so pretty sure he confused me with someone else (though us SS fans are pretty few here in the US). I saw some cute FF7 art I wanted at one of the artist tables but the artist wasn't there at the time. Had a sign up saying she had to leave for a bit but would be back later. But of course I'd be in judging then. Oh well. lol Meanwhile Sam made friends with the people at the kimono booth and ended up getting hired by them due to her vast knowledge. XD
Changed into Ludwig with what I thought was enough time but because I was doing my own make-up, I misjudged how long that would take and ended up being the last judge to make it down to the judging room. But hey I was still there in time. XD Its just that Eric and Lex totally beat me there. I once again totally enjoyed being a judge. It was also really cool to see some of out entries from last year show up and see how they've improved in a year's time. Makes you super proud of them! Like seriously my favorite part of judging is seeing the younger cosplayers progress and all the great stuff they come up with. I also feel like there was slightly more entries on Friday this time than last year but I could be wrong there since I don't remember exactly how many we had before. But we did end up using up most of the time. I think we finished a little bit early.
Lex as Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke
Back in the Cosplay HQ room, which was the same fancy room as the year before, we saw Jenna doing a photoshoot with her photographer on the other side of the hotel so we mimed through the window that she should come over and have photos since it'd be a great location for her Peggy Carter costume. She didn't quite understand us at first but eventually Eric just went out and got her. XD
I stole this shot while they did their thing lol
Then took advantage of the room myself and had Lex take a few shots of me in Ludwig.
Changed out of cosplay and just hung out in the room the rest of the night since there wasn't much going on at this point. Ended up chatting pretty late with Sam which was fun. It was nice getting to know her better too. Didn't stay up too late though since had to get up early the next day.
Saturday:
Woke up to see that it was snowing outside...x_x Was pretty angry about that but it melted pretty early on at least. I got up as early as I did so I could get ready before Eric took over the bathroom to get his Marie Antionette make-up on and then get photos with Rose before judging. Since the theme of the con this year was Victorian, I figured it would be a good time to wear my Cain costume again since I had been planning to remake him for a while out of actual wool. Didn't quite finish the costume for the con but had enough done to wear at least and was pretty happy with how it looked. And Rose brought her Cre costume so we could get photos together. XD Though neither of us had a decent camera so we just used Rose' cell phone and Rae was nice enough to take photos. Though the only pose we could really think of was the two of us glaring at each other since Cain and Cre don't really get along and we lacked any other characters. lol
This one is my favorite, mostly due to how disgusted Cre looks here. XD
Then we got ready for Hall. Lex was also dappered up in Victorian ware. Eric was in the wrong era but we let him borrow Lex's top hat so he could join in...
...'cause clearly he needs more stuff on that wig XD
Us talking about Jack the Ripper and other historical figures led to us deciding we HAD to watch some Historic Rap battles on Laura's phone before it was time to start.
We had a pretty full and long judging session and man was I tired by the end of it. I also was massively hungry so every time Laura brought us ANY food, I stuffed my face with it. lol We had a regular supply of candy too so that helped. And amazingly enough we actually finished ON TIME! Like for the first time ever. lol Even had a little extra time to spare at the end. Though I guess the fact we all were there early this time around probably helped. So we had a good chunk of time to figure out the awards. Even had time to get some photo time in, as Lex and I agreed we needed a photo together in the fancy room...
'Cause we be fucking dapper. (I really do love this photo though)
Didn't have to rush to the Masquerade like the year before and even had some time to ourselves at the end so I totally went out to find Alyce and co., who were all pretty shocked to see me out and about so early. XD Brittany and Forest were JUST coming down in their Dark Souls costumes at that point too so I had pretty good timing. Got to see their costumes and they got taken down a hallway for a surprise shoot some guy wanted to do with them so the rest of us sat down and chatted for a bit. Which was super nice since I honestly didn't think I'd get much time to spend with them this con. Even Becky showed up, having come for just the one day, and she was pretty excited to see me in Cain. When I first met them all back in 2003, Becky had been cosplaying Cain so I knew she'd appreciate seeing me back in the costume.
We had thought about going outside for photos but it was REALLY windy and I forgot about the fact that while I was nice and comfortable in my layers, everyone else was...not. Especially Alyce and Beth in their Xena costumes. Oops. ^^;; So I took them all to our fancy cosplay HQ room for some photos but sadly none of the ones of me in Cain came out. T_T So I only have those cell phone ones of me and Rose. But maybe I'll be able to try again next year? Not sure if I'll be judging again though so not sure if I'll have access to the room but never know. Maybe they'll still let me. ^^;; Then after a little bit of chatting and wandering, they went to go change (Brittany and Forest had already done so since their costumes were pretty big) and I went to go take a little break in the room so I could take some layers off before it was time for the Masq. On the way up the elevator, one girl actually recognized me as Cain so that was pretty nifty. ^.^
Got back down and went to the cosplay room to see if anyone needed any help with anything since it was still early but no one was around. lol Guess I was too early. So just wandered until it was time. The Masquerade itself was once again short and sweet. During the half time, one girl got proposed to by her boyfriend which was super cute. It was all pre-arranged by the con staff and they had already prepared music and stuff for if she said yes...or if she said no, to keep everything happy. lmao Luckily the girl said yes otherwise that poor guy would have been pretty miserable I think. But it was cute how they did it. They called her up on stage, pretending she was selected for a random selected raffle of everyone's badge numbers and then he came out as her "prize". But anywho, then we did our awards and this time we didn't mess up. XD
Our Best in Show winner. I was pretty damn excited to see a Tokyo Babylon cosplayer in general. But omg she painted all of that and it looked so legit. She even made the freaking clock. *_* I was so in awe!
Afterwards I took a lot of the costume off but kept the dress shirt, pants, and vest on so I could still be dapper-ish. XD Finally met up with Stephanie, who I had been trying to find all weekend. Gave her a free doll I had gotten as a prize that she was interested in. Glad it finally found a home of someone who would appreciate it more than I. Only got to talk with her for a little bit though before she had to head off. Then got tacos from the staff room thanks to Dar and Laura, which was awesome cause I hadn't gotten a chance to actually eat dinner yet. Brought some back to the room for Sam, who wasn't feeling well and just stayed in bed the rest of the night. I felt bad she was missing a lot of con. I would have stayed too but I really wanted to see everyone else some more so she decided to rest while I went over to the other room and we went down to con to wander. Ended up in the table top game room, which I've never actually gone into at any con. Played some cute card game called Guillotine with Alyce, Beth, and Becky. It was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be and I agree with them that we should try out those games more often at cons now. Once we got tired of that, went back to the room and chatted with Sam for a bit again before passing out.
Sunday:
Decided to wear my Frozen vest I had recently made before con and wore it with my Ludwig shirt to be a little fancier. Helped Sam put her stuff in her car but god was it cold out there so had definitely wished I had put on something heavier by the time I got back to the con. Then we hung out in the lobby for a bit and found Stephanie and Aysha (who I hadn't seen all con!) so chatted with them for a while. They both appreciated my vest. XD Forest had left con early (like insanely early lol) so I put my stuff in Brittany's car instead since she said she didn't mind driving me home after she dropped everyone else off at Alyce's. Did a final round in the Dealer's with everyone. Bought the new MLP original TV series boxset, thanks to Laura texting me earlier to let me know it existed. XD I was pretty damn happy as I had no idea they had released that! Also managed to find the artist that wasn't at her booth on Friday and get the art I wanted. And got one of the Sailor Moon chibis, asked the dealer if I could check the box first since I had heard from Becky that they had been letting people do that. They were kinda "ehhh" about it since they were getting down to the last ones and I guess were realizing this method was kinda backfiring on them but the one he opened for me ended up being Jupiter anyways so it worked out (since he said he'd only open one to try). XD Then hoped in the car with Beth, Alyce, and Brittany and stopped at Alyce's, said yellow to their kitties real quick before Brittany and I got back on the road.
~Lyn